St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-11-05
THE BONE THROWER.
Accidental Death of the Alleged
Leader in the Haylnarket Mas
SaCre.

Accidental Death OF the AHegeU
Leader in the HayInarket Mas
sacre.
PITTsBURG. Pa, Nov. 4.-YesteIday
Thomas Owens. an unpretentious car
penter at work on a house at Home
stead, fell from the roof of the building
and broke his neck. Squire Oetfner
was deputized to hold an inquest, and
to-day made a report of his inveStiga-
ton. Owens, the deceased, it appears.
came to this city about one year ago,
some two OF three days after the Hay
market riot at Chicago, in somewhat
dilapidated condition, representing
himself to be a carpenter out of job.
He at once secured work at Homestead
with j. r. Mullett, and for the past year
has been working steadily alongside of
man named Piper, also carpenter.
When Owens began work he said he
had come from Chicago. where he had a
brother living, and seemed nervous and
startled at everything. One day while
Piper and Owens were at work an officer
came to Homestead in search of man
on charge of desertion. Seeing Owens
and not knowing what his man looked
like the officer asked Mr.. Mullett who
Owens was. and was told, whereupon
he went away. The men at work heard
that the officer asked who Owens was.
and out of mischief told him that an
officer had been after him. He became
very much excited. and went TO Mr.
Mullett at once, wanting what pay was
cue him, and expressed his desire to get
away from Homestead as soon as posi-
BILE: but when he was assured that he
was not the man the man the officer
wanted he went to work again seem
ingly cOntented. This conduct inter
ested Mr.. Piper. who was rooming as
well as working in his company. and at
the first opportunity began a systematic
inquiry of Owens as to his cause OF
alarm. In this conversation Piper yes
terday swole before Squire Getfner in
the course of the inquest that Thomas
Owens said:
II AM VERY SORRY
for those anarchists in Chicago. who are
now in jail charged with throwing
bombs at the Haymarket riot. There
are others outside who are more to
blame than they. | was at the Hay
market riot and am an anarchist, and
say that threw the bomb in that riot"
Piper was cautioned to keep the state
ment a secret and for that reason he did
not tell the story until after the death
of Owens. The way the story happened
10 come out WAS that all the men EN-
plOyed on the building were standing
around the Squire'S Office, having been
summoned there as witnesses in the
Owens inquest. and while there Piper
and Mullet began talking of this story.
Il heard their remarks" said the
squire this morning, land immediately
called Piper to the stand, SwOre him,
and although it had nothing to do with
the case of Owens death, yet under
oath. he told me the story have just
Owens was made the subject of i'll
vestlgation at Homestead this after
noon. Mr.. Piper. as stated in the pre-
vious dispatch, who worked with Owens.
says that his testimony before the cor
onor's inquest was substantially as re-
ported. Owens, he says, was a man
about tWenty-eight years of age, and
said to him that he belonged to the same
group of anarchists as Spies and Par
sons; that he was present at the Hay
market meeting. handled the bomb, and
was close to the man who threw it. In
pressed with the statement of Piper, the
squire made an examination of the ef-
fectS of the deceased, In his trunk
were found a number of letters, one of
which was from his sister in Chicago,
hflHlHS ilin W hCCp away IiOhi oli oo-
cialists, as they had been the cause of
all his trouble. Another letter was from
a brother, cautiOning him not to write
home for fear his letters might be inter
eepted and his whereabouts revealed.
that his old home was watched, and adj
yising him to act with caution, and put
as great distance between himself and
Chicago as possible.
CHICAGO, Nov. 4.-There was a
sGalor about the Jail to-day that Gov.
ogIesby had sent up an agent to exam
inc Into the case and determine the de-
erees of guilt of the seven. Schwab re-
fused to talk when questioned on this
subject. 1t required little coaxing how
ever, to get him to deny the Pittsburg
yarn. lie declared that Schnaubelt had
i partner, but that he wasn't bomb
fhrower. Parsons said the story was
nonsense. Capt Black called about
O'Clock TO say goodbye. He leaves for
Springfield Monday to present the petit
tiens.